Data-enable mask compression on a communication bus

ABSTRACT

An apparatus includes a decoding circuit, and a communication bus that is configured to transfer a particular data payload and a control signal that indicates whether the particular data payload includes a mask value. The mask value is indicative of enabled and non-enabled data words in the particular data payload. The decoding circuit is configured to receive, from an encoding circuit via the communication bus, the particular data payload and the control signal. In response to a determination that the control signal indicates that the particular data payload does not include the mask value, the decoding circuit is configured to use a default value for the mask value, and to create an uncompressed data payload from the particular data payload using the default value, wherein the default value causes the decoding circuit to maintain positions of data words between the particular data payload and the uncompressed data payload.

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/845,865, filed Apr. 10, 2020 (now U.S. Pat. No. 10,911,267). Thedisclosure of the above-referenced application is incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

Embodiments described herein are related to the field of integratedcircuits, and more particularly to data communication on a communicationbus.

Description of the Related Art

Communication buses in a computer system may include many conductivewires or traces for transferring multiple data words in parallel betweentwo or more functional circuits. A data payload corresponds to a set ofdata words that can be transferred in parallel on a communication bus.In some instances, however, a number of data words to be sent in asingle data payload may be less than a maximum number of data words thatthe communication bus is capable of transferring. In such instances, amask value can be utilized to indicate to a functional circuit receivingthe data payload which data words are enabled and which data words arenot enabled.

SUMMARY OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Broadly speaking, apparatus and methods are contemplated in which anapparatus includes an encoding circuit, and a communication bus havingconductive traces that are configured to transfer a data payload,including a control signal and up to a maximum number of data words. Theencoding circuit is configured to receive an uncompressed data payloadand a mask value, and to create, using the mask value, the controlsignal. The control signal is indicative of whether the uncompresseddata payload includes one or more non-enabled data words. In response toa determination that the control signal indicates that the uncompresseddata payload includes one or more non-enabled data words, the encodingcircuit is configured to create a compressed data payload from theuncompressed data payload, and to send, to a decoding circuit, thecompressed data payload and the control signal via the plurality ofconductive traces of the communication bus. The compressed data payloadincludes the mask value.

In a further example, each data word of the uncompressed data payloadmay be placed into a respective position within the uncompressed datapayload. To create the compressed data payload, the encoding circuit isconfigured to move a particular enabled data word from a particularposition in the uncompressed data payload to a different position in thecompressed data payload.

In one example, to create the compressed data payload, the encodingcircuit is further configured to shift enabled data words from lesssignificant positions in the uncompressed data payload to moresignificant positions in the compressed data payload until a non-enableddata word is reached. In another example, to create the compressed datapayload, the encoding circuit is further configured to place the maskvalue into a least significant position of the compressed data payload.

In an embodiment, the encoding circuit is further configured, inresponse to a determination that the control signal indicates that alldata words included in the uncompressed data payload are enabled datawords, to create the compressed data payload from the uncompressed datapayload. The compressed data payload does not include the mask value.The encoding circuit is further configured to send, to the decodingcircuit, the compressed data payload and the control signal via theplurality of conductive traces of the communication bus withoutincluding the mask value.

In one example, the encoding circuit may send the control signal over asingle conductive trace by asserting the control signal when at leastone data word is non-enabled, and otherwise de-asserting the controlsignal. In a further example, each bit of the mask value may correspondto one respective data word position in the uncompressed data payload.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following detailed description makes reference to the accompanyingdrawings, which are now briefly described.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a computingdevice that includes an encoding circuit.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a computing device thatincludes a decoding circuit.

FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram of another embodiment of a computingdevice that includes an encoding circuit.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of another embodiment of a computingdevice that includes a decoding circuit.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a computing device thatincludes several functional circuits coupled to a communication bus.

FIG. 6 depicts a flow diagram for an embodiment of a method forcompressing a data payload that includes at least one non-enabled dataword.

FIG. 7 shows a flow diagram for an embodiment of a method forcompressing a data payload in which all data words are enabled.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flow diagram for an embodiment of a method fordecompressing a data payload that includes at least one non-enabled dataword.

FIG. 9 depicts a flow diagram for an embodiment of a method fordecompressing a data payload in which all data words are enabled.

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a computing devicethat includes a system.

FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram depicting an examplecomputer-readable medium, according to some embodiments.

While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way ofexample in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. Itshould be understood, however, that the drawings and detaileddescription thereto are not intended to limit the disclosure to theparticular form illustrated, but on the contrary, the intention is tocover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within thespirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appendedclaims. As used throughout this application, the word “may” is used in apermissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather thanthe mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words“include,” “including,” and “includes” mean including, but not limitedto.

Various units, circuits, or other components may be described as“configured to” perform a task or tasks. In such contexts, “configuredto” is a broad recitation of structure generally meaning “havingcircuitry that” performs the task or tasks during operation. As such,the unit/circuit/component can be configured to perform the task evenwhen the unit/circuit/component is not currently on. In general, thecircuitry that forms the structure corresponding to “configured to” mayinclude hardware circuits. Similarly, various units/circuits/componentsmay be described as performing a task or tasks, for convenience in thedescription. Such descriptions should be interpreted as including thephrase “configured to.” Reciting a unit/circuit/component that isconfigured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not toinvoke 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph (f) interpretation for thatunit/circuit/component. More generally, the recitation of any element isexpressly intended not to invoke 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph (f)interpretation for that element unless the language “means for” or “stepfor” is specifically recited.

As used herein, the term “based on” is used to describe one or morefactors that affect a determination. This term does not foreclose thepossibility that additional factors may affect the determination. Thatis, a determination may be solely based on specified factors or based onthe specified factors as well as other, unspecified factors. Considerthe phrase “determine A based on B.” This phrase specifies that B is afactor that is used to determine A or that affects the determination ofA. This phrase does not foreclose that the determination of A may alsobe based on some other factor, such as C. This phrase is also intendedto cover an embodiment in which A is determined based solely on B. Thephrase “based on” is thus synonymous with the phrase “based at least inpart on.”

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

To transfer information between two or more functional circuits, acomputing device may include one or more communication buses. Suchcommunication buses commonly include many conductive wires or traces fortransferring, in parallel, data payloads that include multiple datawords. Transferring the information in parallel may result in theinformation reaching its destination more quickly than if theinformation was sent serially. As used herein, a “data payload” is a setof one or more data words intended to be transferred in parallel on thecommunication bus. Additionally, a “data word” is a number of bits ofinformation that are grouped together and manipulated by communicationbus circuits as a single unit. In various embodiments, a data word mayinclude any number of bits, such as an eight-bit byte, a 16-bit word,32-bit word, or any other suitable size.

In some cases, a number of data words to be sent in a single datapayload may be less than a maximum number of data words that thecommunication bus is capable of transferring. For example, acommunication bus may include 128 conductive traces for transferringeight 16-bit data words in parallel. Such a communication bus may beutilized to transfer data payloads with fewer than eight data words,e.g., 5 data words. The five data words may be placed into any five ofthe eight possible data word positions of the communication bus. In suchcases, a mask value can be utilized to indicate to a functional circuitreceiving the data payload which five data word positions include one ofthe five data words being transferred (referred to as “enabled” datawords), and which three data word positions are not enabled. The maskvalue, however, creates a need for eight additional conductive traces tosend the mask value in parallel with the data payload, or for the maskvalue to be sent either before or after the data payload is sent, usingthe same 128 conductive wires that carry the data payload. The inventorshave recognized a benefit of a system that allows sending of the maskvalue in parallel with the data payload without a need to increase tothe number of conductive wires in the communication bus.

Embodiments of apparatus and methods are disclosed in which an encodingcircuit is utilized to prepare a data payload for transmission on acommunication bus. The communication bus is configured to transfer thedata payload, including up to a maximum number of data words, and acontrol signal. The encoding circuit creates a control signal based on amask value received with the data payload, the control signal indicatingwhether one or more data words of the data payload are not enabled. Theencoding circuit creates a compressed data payload using the mask value,and includes the mask value in the compressed data payload. The singlecontrol signal is sent, via the communication bus, to a decoding circuitin parallel with the compressed data payload.

It is noted that sending data and control signals in “parallel” refersto multiple signals having valid states during a same time period, butis not intended to imply that the signals must all start and/or stop atexactly the same time. For example, circuits that send signals overrespective bit lines for a data payload and for a control signal may beconfigured to begin sending in response to an assertion of a samecontrol or clock signal, but due to respective circuit designs andvariations in a fabrication process, the circuits may begin and/or endtheir respective sending at different points in time.

A block diagram for an embodiment of a computing device is illustratedin FIG. 1. As shown, computing device 100 includes encoding circuit 101that further includes control circuit 105. Control circuit 105 isconfigured to receive uncompressed data payload 120 and mask value 125,and using these values, generates control signal 128 and compressed datapayload 130. Compressed data payload 130 and control signal 128 are sentto a decoding circuit via communication bus 110. Computing device 100may be a mobile, desktop, or any suitable type of computing device, suchas a desktop computer, laptop computer, smartphone, tablet, wearabledevice, and the like. In some embodiments, computing device 100 may beimplemented on a system-on-chip (SoC) or other type of integratedcircuit (IC).

As illustrated, computing device includes communication bus 110 thattransfers information between two or more functional circuits, one ofwhich includes encoding circuit 101, coupled to communication bus 110.Communication bus 110 has a plurality of conductive traces 112 that areconfigured to transfer a data payload, such as compressed data payload130, that includes up to a maximum number of data words, and controlsignal 128. As used herein, a “conductive trace” refers to a metallicsubstance coupled between two or more circuits to conduct electronicsignals between the two or more circuits. For example, conductive traces112 may be implemented as metal lines created in one or more layers ofan IC and/or metal etchings on one or more circuit boards, and/or as aplurality of wires in a cable coupled between two or more circuitboards. A number of conductive traces 112 of communication bus 110corresponds to a number of bits included in the maximum number of datawords in a data payload plus control signal 128. To send compressed datapayload 130 via communication bus 110, encoder circuit 101 is configuredto send all bits of compressed data payload 130 and control signal 128in parallel.

Encoding circuit 101, as shown, is configured to receive uncompresseddata payload 120 and mask value 125. Mask value 125 indicates enabledand non-enabled data words in uncompressed data payload 120. As usedherein, an “enabled data word” refers to a data word included in a datapayload that represents valid data to be sent and received by functionalcircuits. In a similar manner, a “non-enabled data word” refers to dataincluded in the data payload that is not valid, but instead used as aplace holder within the data payload. Whether non-enabled data words aresent between functional circuits is irrelevant except to maintain aplacement of data words in the data payload as desired. For example, thefunctional circuit of computing device 100 that includes encodingcircuit 101 has six data words to send to another functional circuit. Asshown, communication bus 110 is capable of transmitting eight data wordsin parallel. The six data words to be sent are arranged in uncompresseddata payload 120 in a particular order, such that two non-enabled datawords are interspersed with the six data words to be sent. Uncompresseddata payload 120, therefore, has six enabled data words (122 h, 122 f,122 e, 122 c, 122 b, and 122 a) and two non-enabled data words (124 gand 124 d). Non-enabled data words 124 d and 124 g are used to maintainan order of the enabled data words.

Mask value 125 includes a number of bits for indicating which data wordpositions in uncompressed data payload 120 are enabled and which are notenabled. A total number of bits included in mask value 125 does notexceed the number of bits in a data word. Accordingly, if a data word isone byte, then mask value 125 does not exceed a size of one byte. Thebits in mask value 125 may be utilized in any suitable fashion forindicating which data words of a given data payload are enabled. Forexample, each bit of mask value 125 may correspond to one respectivedata word position in uncompressed data payload 120, with a logic valueof ‘1’ indicating an enabled data word and vice versa. In otherembodiments, two or more bits of mask value 125 may be used to indicateadditional information about each data word. For example, two bits maybe used such that a value of ‘00’ indicates a non-enabled data word,‘01’ indicates an enabled data word that includes a command, ‘10’indicates an enabled data word that includes an address, and ‘11’indicates an enabled data word that includes data. Additional methodsfor encoding mask value 125 are contemplated.

As illustrated, control circuit 105 in encoding circuit 101 isconfigured to create, using mask value 125, control signal 128. Controlsignal 128 indicates whether uncompressed data payload 120 includes oneor more non-enabled data words. Uncompressed data payload 120 includesboth non-enabled data words 124 g and 124 d, and control signal 128 isgenerated to indicate the presence of these two non-enabled data words.For example, control circuit 105 asserts a logic value in response to adetermination that control signal 128 indicates that uncompressed datapayload 120 includes the one or more non-enabled data words, encodingcircuit 101 creates compressed data payload 130 from uncompressed datapayload 120. Compressed data payload 130 also includes mask value 125.

To create compressed data payload 130, control circuit 105 uses maskvalue 125 to identify a non-enabled data word in uncompressed datapayload 120 (in the illustrated example, non-enabled data word 124 d),and shift the positions of enabled data words 122 a-122 c, therebymaking a position available for adding mask value 125 to compressed datapayload 130. Encoding circuit 101 is further configured to send, to adecoding circuit, compressed data payload 130 and control signal 128 viathe plurality of conductive traces 112 of communication bus 110.

By compressing the received data payload and adding mask value 125 tocreate compressed data payload 130, only a single additional conductivetrace is added for sending control signal 128 to the decoding circuit.If uncompressed data payload 120 is sent via communication bus 110, thena plurality of conductive traces 112 would need to be added, one foreach bit of mask value 125. Routing of additional conductive traces mayconsume die area on an IC and/or board area on a circuit board. Inaddition, each additional conductive trace would further include adriver circuit that sources or sinks current on the additionalconductive trace to generate a respective logic value, therebypotentially increasing power consumption of computing device 100.Accordingly, reducing a number of conductive traces may reduce dieand/or circuit board area as well as reducing power consumption.

Encoding circuit 101, as shown, is further configured, in response to adetermination that the control signal indicates that all data wordsincluded in uncompressed data payload 120 are enabled data words, tocreate compressed data payload 130 from uncompressed data payload 120,wherein compressed data payload 130 does not include mask value 125. Tocreate compressed data payload 130, encoding circuit 101 transfers alldata words included in uncompressed data payload 120 into compresseddata payload 130. Encoding circuit 101 is further configured to send, tothe decoding circuit, compressed data payload 130 and control signal 128via conductive traces 112 of communication bus 110 without includingmask value 125. Since all data word positions are enabled, encodingcircuit 101 omits sending of mask value 125. The state of control signal128 will indicate to the decoding circuit that all data word positionsare enabled.

It is noted that computing device 100 as illustrated in FIG. 1 is merelyan example. The illustration of FIG. 1 has been simplified to highlightfeatures relevant to this disclosure. Various embodiments may includedifferent configurations of the circuit blocks, including a differentnumber of data words in the uncompressed and compressed data payloads.In some embodiments, a plurality of encoding circuits may be implementedin a functional circuit to compress larger sizes of data payloads, witheach encoding circuit compressing a respective portion of the largerdata payload.

The encoding circuit illustrated in FIG. 1 is described as sending thecompressed data payload to a decoding circuit. An example of a decodingcircuit is shown in FIG. 2.

Moving to FIG. 2, a block diagram of another embodiment of a computingdevice is shown. As illustrated, computing device 200 includes decodingcircuit 203 that further includes control circuit 205. Control circuit205 is configured to receive compressed data payload 130 and controlsignal 128, and using these values, generates mask value 125 anduncompressed data payload 120. Compressed data payload 130 and controlsignal 128 are received from an encoding circuit (e.g., encoding circuit101 in FIG. 1) via communication bus 110. Computing device 200 may be amobile, desktop, or any suitable type of computing device, such as adesktop computer, laptop computer, smartphone, tablet, wearable device,and the like. In some embodiments, computing device 200 may beimplemented on a system-on-chip (SoC) or other type of integratedcircuit (IC). In such embodiments, computing devices 100 and 200 may bethe same computing device and encoding circuit 101 and decoding circuit203 may be implemented on the same SoC.

As illustrated, decoding circuit 203 receives data payloads from one ormore encoding circuits, such as encoding circuit 101 in FIG. 1, viacommunication bus 110. Communication bus 110 has a plurality ofconductive traces 112 that are configured to transfer a data payloadthat includes up to maximum number of data words 140, and control signal128. A number of conductive traces 112 of communication bus 110corresponds to a number of bits included in the maximum number of datawords 140 plus a number of bits in control signal 128. As shown,communication bus 110 can transfer eight data words plus control signal128. If, for example, a data word includes eight bits and control signal128 is a single bit, then the number of conductive traces 112 is 65. Ina different example, if a data word is 32 bits and the control signal istwo bits, then the number of conductive traces 112 is 258. In variouscases, the received data payloads may or may not be compressed. Anuncompressed data payload includes a maximum number of enabled datawords, while a compressed data payload includes fewer than the maximumnumber of enabled data words.

Decoding circuit 203 is configured to receive, from an encoding circuitvia communication bus 110, compressed data payload 130 and controlsignal 128. Control signal 128 indicates whether compressed data payload130 is compressed. For example, control signal 128 may be received via asingle conductive trace of conductive traces 112. An asserted state ofcontrol signal 128 on the single conductive trance may indicate thatcompressed data payload 130, received in parallel with control signal128, is compressed, while a de-asserted state of control signal 128indicates that a data payload received in parallel is uncompressed. Itis noted that, in some embodiments, asserted and de-asserted statescorrespond, respectively, to logic high and logic low states, while inother embodiments, the logic states are reversed.

In response to a determination that control signal 128 indicates thatcompressed data payload 130 is compressed, decoding circuit 203 isconfigured to extract mask value 125 from compressed data payload 130and, using mask value 125, create uncompressed data payload 120 fromcompressed data payload 130. As shown, decoding circuit 203 isconfigured to receive the maximum number of data words, which is eightin the illustrated example. Decoding circuit 203 receives compresseddata payload 130 which includes six enabled data words (enabled datawords 122 a-122 c, 122 e, 122 f, and 122 h), as well as non-enabled dataword 124 g and mask value 125. Control circuit 205, within decodingcircuit 203, receives control signal 128 in parallel with compresseddata payload 130. An asserted state of control signal 128 indicates thatcompressed data payload 130 is compressed. In response to thisindication, control circuit 205 extracts mask value 125 from compresseddata payload 130. For example, mask value 125 may be stored in aparticular position within compressed data payload 130, and controlcircuit 205 reads data from the particular position and interprets thisdata as mask value 125.

As illustrated, mask value 125 indicates which of the remaining datawords in compressed data payload 130 are enabled. Using mask value 125,control circuit 205 maps the data words that are indicated as enabled tocorresponding positions in uncompressed data payload 120. Accordingly,uncompressed data payload 120 includes enabled data words 122 a-122 c,122 e, 122 f, and 122 h, with non-enabled data words 124 d and 124 gincluded to provide uncompressed data payload with the maximum number ofdata words 140. Decoding circuit 203 may send uncompressed data payload120 to a particular function circuit or may store uncompressed datapayload 120 for later retrieval by the particular functional circuit.While values for the enabled data words are based on the receivedenabled data words, values for non-enabled data words 124 d and 124 gmay be set to a default value. In other embodiments, to reduce an amountof switching on circuits in the particular functional circuit, valuesfor non-enabled data words 124 d and 124 g may be left to previousvalues that were used on a prior data payload.

If decoding circuit 203 receives a value of control signal 128 thatindicates that a different data payload received in parallel isuncompressed, then control circuit 205 is configured to use a defaultvalue for mask value 125, rather than extract a value from the differentdata payload. Since, in an uncompressed data payload, all data words areenabled, mask value 125 may have a single value that is indicative ofall data words being enabled. Control circuit 205 uses this single valuefor mask value 125 to map all data words of the different data payloadinto uncompressed data payload 120, which may then be utilized by theparticular functional circuit.

It is noted that the embodiment of FIG. 2 is merely an example todemonstrate the disclosed concepts. In other embodiments, a differentcombination of circuits may be included. For example, in otherembodiments, a different number of data words may be included in thecompressed and uncompressed data payloads. A plurality of decodingcircuits 203 may be utilized in parallel to receive larger amounts ofdata words in parallel.

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate block diagrams of encoding and decodingcircuits that may be used in one or more computing devices to transfer aplurality of data words in parallel. In the descriptions of thesecircuits, control circuits are described that perform the encoding anddecoding operations. In FIGS. 3 and 4, more detailed versions of therespective control circuits are illustrated and described below.

Turning to FIG. 3, a block diagram of another embodiment of encodingcircuit 101 is depicted. Encoding circuit 101, as disclosed above,receives uncompressed data payload 120 and mask value 125. Controlcircuit 105 uses mask value 125 to generate compressed data payload 130from uncompressed data payload 120. Control circuit 105 includes a setof multiplexing circuits (MUXs) 306 a-306 h (MUXs 306 for short), NANDgate 307, and a set of AND gates 308 b-308 h.

As illustrated, each data word of uncompressed data payload 120 isplaced into a respective position within uncompressed data payload 120.Data words in uncompressed data payload 120 and compressed data payload130 are arranged from a least significant position 371 to a mostsignificant position 378. It is noted that the terms most significantand least significant are used merely to indicate a position within thepayload. In other embodiments, other terminology may be used. In someembodiments, a position of a data word within a data payload mayindicate a particular characteristic of the data word. For example,least significant position 371 may correspond to a value for aparticular register used by the functional circuits that are sending orreceiving the data payloads. A graphics processor may receive image datawith each data word, or a particular number of consecutive data words,corresponding to a particular pixel in the image. Accordingly, an orderof enabled data words in uncompressed data payload 120 may be preservedin compressed data payload 130 to enable the data word positions to berestored when compressed data payload is decoded at a receivingfunctional circuit.

Enabled data word 122 a, as shown, is in least significant position 371in uncompressed data payload 120, while enabled data word 122 h is shownin most significant position 378, with the remaining enabled andnon-enabled data words arranged in order of increasing significance fromposition 372 to position 377. To create compressed data payload 130,encoding circuit 101 is configured to move a particular enabled dataword (e.g., enabled data word 122 a) from a particular position inuncompressed data payload 120 (least significant position 371) to adifferent position in compressed data payload 130 (second to leastsignificant position 372). Encoding circuit 101 is further configured toshift other enabled data words (e.g., enabled data words 122 b and 122c) from less significant positions (positions 372 and 373) to moresignificant positions (positions 373 and 374) until a non-enabled dataword (non-enabled data word 124 d) is reached. To compress uncompresseddata payload 120, control circuit 105 begins with least significantposition 371, where enabled data word 122 a is located, and shiftenabled data words into a next higher significant position. In FIG. 3,control circuit 105 shifts each of enabled data words 122 a-122 c totheir respective next higher positions. Since position 374 inuncompressed data payload 120 holds non-enabled data word 124 d, noadditional shifting is performed. Enabled data word 122 c is shiftedinto position 374 of compressed data payload 130 and non-enabled dataword 124 d is omitted. Encoding circuit 101 is further configured toplace mask value 125 into least significant position 371.

To identify which data words of uncompressed data payload 120 areenabled and which are not, control circuit 105 uses mask value 125. Inthe illustrated embodiment, mask value 125 includes one bit for eachdata word position in uncompressed data payload 120. A value of “1” fora particular bit indicates that a data word in a corresponding positionin uncompressed data payload 120 is enabled, and indicates that the dataword in the corresponding position is disabled if the value of theparticular bit is “0.” In other embodiments this logic may be reversed.To enable the shifting of data words, control circuit 105 utilizes maskvalue 125 in two ways. First, control signal 128 is generated by usingeach bit of mask value 125 as an input to NAND gate 307. If all datawords in uncompressed data payload 120 are enabled, then eachcorresponding bit in mask value 125 will be set to “1” resulting in theoutput of NAND gate 307 (control signal 128) being set to “0.”Otherwise, if at least one data word in uncompressed data payload 120 isnon-enabled, the corresponding bit of mask value 125 is “0” and NANDgate 307 sets control signal 128 to “1.” Control signal 128 is used asone input to each of AND gates 308 b-308 h.

The second way in which control circuit 105 utilizes mask value 125 isby using each bit of mask value 125 as a second input to a respectiveone of AND gates 308 b-308 h, with the exception of the bit thatcorresponds to the most significant position. As illustrated, an outputof each AND gate 308 b-308 h is used as a control signal by a respectiveone of MUXs 306 b-306 h. No AND gate is used for the control signal ofMUX 306 a, just control signal 128. Control signal 128 provides anindication whether all data words of uncompressed data payload 120 areenabled or not. If all data words are enabled (control signal 128 is“0”), then mask value 125 is not sent to a decoding circuit receivingthe data payload and, therefore, no compression of uncompressed datapayload 120 is performed. The “0” value of control signal 128 is aninput to MUX 306 a, resulting in MUX 306 a selecting enabled data word122 a as an input over mask value 125, and transferring the value ofenabled data word 122 a into least significant position 371 ofcompressed data payload 130. The “0” value of control signal 128 furthercauses AND gate 308 b to set an output to “0,” causing MUXs 306 b toselect a non-shifted input over a shifted input. For example, MUX 306 breceives enabled data word 122 b as a non-shifted input and enabled dataword 122 a as a shifted input, and selects enabled data word 122 b whenthe output of AND gate 308 b is “0.”

The output of AND gate 308 b is also used as an input to AND gate 308 c.The output of AND gate 308 c is an input to AND gate 308 d, and so forthup to the final AND gate 308 h. This chaining of the outputs of thefirst AND gate 308 b through to the final AND gate 308 h results in afirst occurrence of an output of “0” causing all subsequent AND gates tohave outputs of “0.” In the all-data-words-enabled example above, the“0” output of AND gate 308 b results in all AND gates 308 c-308 h havingoutput values of “0.”

As depicted in FIG. 3, mask value 125 is “10110111” indicating that twodata words are not enabled. Accordingly, control signal 128 is set to“1” to indicate that at least one data word is not enabled. Based on the“1” value of control signal 128, MUX 306 a selects mask value 125 as aninput and transfers the value of mask value 125 into least significantposition 371 of compressed data payload 130. The “1” value of controlsignal 128 further causes the output of AND gate 308 b to be determinedby a respective bit of mask value 125. If the data word in leastsignificant position 371 is enabled, then MUX 306 b selects the shifteddata word as an input, and otherwise selects the unshifted data word. Asshown, bit 0 of mask value 125 corresponds to least significant position371 and is used as the second input to AND gate 308 b to provide theselection signal for MUX 306 b. The “1” value of bit 0 of mask value125, in combination with the “1” value of control signal 128, causes avalue of “1” to be set at the output of AND gate 308 b, thereby causingMUX 306 b to select the shifted data word (enabled data word 122 a) asan input. Enabled data word 122 a is placed into position 372 ofcompressed data payload 130. The logic gates in control circuit 105further use the next two bits of mask value 125 (bits 1 and 2) to causeMUXs 306 c and 306 d to select the shifted data words (enabled datawords 122 b and 122 c) and transfer these data words into the next twopositions (373 and 374) of compressed data payload 130.

AND gate 308 e receives the output of AND gate 308 d (“1”) and bit 3 ofmask value 125, which is “0” to indicate that position 374 ofuncompressed data payload 120 holds non-enabled data word 124 d. Thisbit 3 value of “0” causes the output of AND gate 308 e to be set to “0,”thereby causing MUX 306 e to select the non-shifted data word, enableddata word 122 e, rather than the shifted data word, non-enabled dataword 124 d. The “0” value of AND gate 308 e, along with bit 4 of maskvalue 125, is used as an input to AND gate 308 f. The “0” received fromAND gate 308 e causes AND gate 308 f, as well as the remaining AND gates308 g and 308 h, to set their outputs to “0.” Accordingly, MUXs 306e-306 h all select the non-shifted data words to transfer to compresseddata payload 130.

After compressed data payload 130 has been generated, encoding circuit101 is configured to send compressed data payload 130 to the decodingcircuit via the conductive traces of communication bus 110. Encodingcircuit 101 is further configured to send control signal 128 over asingle conductive trace of conductive traces 112 by asserting controlsignal 128 when at least one data word is non-enabled, and otherwisede-asserting control signal 128.

It is noted that the example of FIG. 3 merely demonstrates disclosedconcepts. In other embodiments, a different combination of circuits maybe included. For example, in other embodiments, the mask value and/orthe control value may utilized different values to represent enabled andnon-enabled data words. Accordingly, such embodiments may utilizedifferent logic gates to provide selection signals to the multiplexingcircuits and/or to generate the control signal. In some embodiments, adifferent type of switching circuit than a multiplexing circuit may beused to select between shifted and non-shifted data words.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example implementation of a control circuit foruse in an encoding circuit. A similar implementation may be utilized fora control circuit used in a decoding circuit. FIG. 4 depicts such anembodiment of a decoding circuit.

Proceeding to FIG. 4, a block diagram of another embodiment of decodingcircuit 203 is depicted. Decoding circuit 203, as disclosed above,receives compressed data payload 130 and control signal 128. Controlcircuit 205 uses control signal 128 to extract mask value 125, and togenerate uncompressed data payload 120 from compressed data payload 130and the extracted mask value. Control circuit 205 includes a set ofmultiplexing circuits (MUXs) 406 a-406 h (MUXs 406 for short), and a setof AND gates 408 b-408 h.

As illustrated, each data word of compressed data payload 130 is placedinto a particular order from least significant position 471 to mostsignificant position 478 within compressed data payload 130. Asdisclosed above, a position of a data word within a data payload mayindicate a particular characteristic of the data word. Accordingly, anorder of enabled data words in compressed data payload 130 may bepreserved when generating uncompressed data payload 120 to restore thedata word positions.

As described above, control signal 128 indicate whether compressed datapayload 130 includes shifted data words and, if so, a corresponding maskvalue that provides indications of which data words are shifted. Asillustrated, if any data words in compressed data payload 130 have beenshifted, then control signal 128 is “1,” otherwise, if no data word incompressed data payload 130 is shifted, control signal 128 is “0.” Ifcontrol signal 128 is “0,” control circuit 205 of decoding circuit 203performs no shifting of data words in compressed data payload 130. Inaddition, no mask value 125 is included in compressed data payload 130,and control circuit 205 uses default value 440 as a mask value. Defaultvalue 440 corresponds to a value of mask value 125 that is indicative ofall data words of a received data payload being enabled. For example, asstated above, mask value 125 includes one bit for each data word inuncompressed data payload 120. A value of “0” indicates a non-enableddata word while a value of “1” indicates an enabled data word.Accordingly, for such an embodiment, default value 440 is all ones(e.g., “1111111”).

In a similar manner as described for control circuit 105, controlcircuit 205 uses control signal 128 and an extracted mask value 125 ordefault value 440 to control AND gates 408 b-408 h and MUXs 406 a-406 hto place data words from a received compressed data payload 130 intouncompressed data payload 120. For a case in which control signal 128 is“0,” MUX 406 a uses control signal 128 to select default value 440 asmask value 125. AND gates 408 b-408 h are chained in series as describedabove for AND gates 308 b-308 h. Accordingly, a first instance of a “0”output of an AND gate 308 b-308 h results in all subsequent AND gatesalso generating outputs of “0.” Control signal 128 is one input to ANDgate 408 b (coupled to a selection input of MUX 406 b). In the case ofcontrol signal being “0,” this “0” value causes AND gate 408 b to setits output to “0” regardless of a value of mask value 125. The “0”output of AND gate 408 b propagates through the remaining AND gates 408c-408 h, causes all AND gates 408 b-408 h to generate output values of“0.” Accordingly, all MUXs 406 b-406 h select their respective unshiftedvalues from compressed data payload 130. For example, MUX 406 b selectsleast significant position 471 as an unshifted data word and position472 as a shifted data word. In the illustrated example, compressed datapayload includes shifted data words, so least significant position 471holds mask value 125 and position 472 holds enabled data word 122 a. Ifcompressed data payload 130 did not include shifted data words, thenmask value 125 would not be included and enabled data words 122 a-122 cwould be shifted one position to the right (e.g., positions 471-473).

In a case in which control signal 128 is “1,” MUX 406 a uses controlsignal 128 to retrieve mask value 125 from least significant position471 of compressed data payload 130. As shown, mask value 125 is“10110111.” Bit 0 from mask value 125 and control signal 128 are used astwo inputs to AND gate 408 b. Both of these inputs are “1” resulting inan output of “1.” This “1” output of AND gate 408 b causes MUX 406 b toselect the shifted data word, in this case enabled data word 122 a, andtransfer enabled data word 122 a to least significant position 471 ofuncompressed data payload 120. Based on the values of bits 1 and 2 ofmask value 125 and control signal 128, MUXs 406 c and 406 d also selectthe shifted data word, resulting in enabled data words 122 b and 122 cbeing selected and transferred into the next two less significantpositions (472 and 473) in uncompressed data payload 120. Bit 4 of maskvalue 125 is “0,” which causes AND gate 408 e to select the unshifteddata word from compressed data payload 130. This value is shown in FIG.4 as non-enabled data word 124 d. In the current example, however,non-enabled data word 124 d will have the same value as enabled dataword 122 c. Since this data word position is indicated as not enabled bymask value 125, a functional circuit that receives uncompressed datapayload 120 may ignore the data word in position 474, making the valueirrelevant.

The output of “0” from AND gate 408 e propagates to AND gates 408 f-408h, thereby causing MUXs 406 f-406 h to select the non-shifted data wordsand transfer these selected data words into the data words ofuncompressed data payload 120 with a same significance. It is noted thatthe data word in most significant position 478 of uncompressed datapayload 120 will, as illustrated, always be the data word from mostsignificant position 478 of compressed data payload 130. If a data wordin most significant position 478 of a given data payload is enabled, itwill always remain in most significant position 478 of compressed datapayload 130, regardless of a state of the other data words. In contrast,if a data word in most significant position 478 of the given datapayload is not enabled and the data word at position 477 is shifted intomost significant position 478 of compressed data payload 130, thenduring the decoding operation, most significant position 478 ofuncompressed data payload 120 will have a non-enabled data word with avalue equal to the data word in position 477 of uncompressed datapayload 120.

After the decoding operation has completed, and all positions 471-478 ofuncompressed data payload 120 have been set, decoding circuit 203 maysend an indication to an associated functional circuit that a datapayload is ready to be retrieved. In other embodiments, decoding circuit203 may send uncompressed data payload 120 and mask value 125 to theassociate function circuit.

It is noted that FIG. 4 depicts one example of a decoding circuit.Different circuit combinations may be utilized in other embodiments. Forexample, other embodiments may utilize different logic circuits toperform the described operations. In some embodiments, the significanceand/or shifting of the data words may be reversed or otherwise modifiedfrom those described.

FIGS. 1-4 have focused on various aspects of encoding and decodingcircuits used for transferring data payloads. Functional circuits havebeen described as sending data payloads to an encoding circuit andreceiving data payloads from a decoding circuit. FIG. 5 illustrates asystem that includes a plurality of functional circuits that send andreceive data payloads using encoding and decoding circuits.

Moving now to FIG. 5, an embodiment of a computing device is depictedthat includes a variety of functional circuits that communicate via acommunication bus. Computing device 500 includes four functionalcircuits: processing circuit 501, communications port 505, graphicsprocessor 515 and processing circuit 520. The four functional circuitsmay communicate to one another via communication bus 110. To support useof communication bus 110, each of the four functional circuits includesa respective implementation of encoding circuit 101 and decoding circuit203. In various embodiments, processing circuit 501, communications port505, graphics processor 515 and processing circuit 520 may beimplemented on a single IC, such as an SoC, or each functional circuitmay be implemented on a separate IC, or a combination thereof.Accordingly, communication bus 110 may include conductive traces thatare implemented as any suitable combination of metallic lines in an IC,metallic traces on a circuit board, and conductive wires in a cablecoupled between circuit boards.

Processing circuit 501, in various embodiments, may include one or moreprocessing cores, such as general-purpose processing cores configured toimplement any suitable instruction set architecture (ISA). In someembodiments, processing circuit may include a custom processing core,such as an application specific IC (ASIC) or programmable logic array(PLA). Communication port 505 may include circuits configured toimplement any suitable communication protocol for exchanging informationwith another computing device and/or one or more computing peripherals.For example, communications port 505 may support universal serial bus(USB), Ethernet, and/or peripheral component interconnect (PCI).Graphics processor 515 includes one or more processing cores configuredto process image and video information, for example, to display on ascreen. Processing circuit 520 may correspond to any other suitable typeof data processing circuit configured to receive, modify, and/or sendinformation in a computing system. For example, processing circuit 520may be an audio processor, a digital signal processor, anencryption/security processor, and the like. Processing circuit 501,communications port 505, graphics processor 515 and processing circuit520 are merely four examples of functional circuits that may utilizeembodiments of the encoding and decoding circuits described herein.

Processing circuit 501, communications port 505, graphics processor 515and processing circuit 520 are configured to send and receiveinformation via communication bus 110 using a plurality of data payloadstransferred to and from communication bus 110. Each of these functionalcircuits utilize a respective one of encoding circuits 101 a-101 d toencode a particular data payload being sent, and a respective one ofdecoding circuits 203 a-203 d to decode a given received data payload.Encoding circuits 101 a-101 d and decoding circuits 203 a-203 d depictimplementations of the encoding and decoding circuits described above inregards to FIGS. 1-4.

As an example of a data payload transfer, graphics processor 515 maysend one or more data payloads to communication port 505, e.g., to storea video file onto a USB connected storage drive or to display on anEthernet connected screen. Graphics processor 515 generates a series ofdata payloads that comprise the video file, as well as data payloadsthat contain, for example, metadata associated with the video file orinstructions for the storage device or display screen. Accordingly, someof the data payloads have all data words enabled while some datapayloads have one or more data words that are not enabled.

To send a particular data payload, graphics processor 515, as shown,sends the particular data payload, along with an associated mask value,to encoding circuit 101 c. Encoding circuit 101 c, using a techniquedescribed above, uses the mask value to generate a control signal and tocompress the particular data payload. In response to ready line 544 cindicating that communication bus 110 is available, encoding circuit 101c sends the compressed data payload and the control signal tocommunication bus 110 using data payload lines 530 c and control line528 c, respectively. Encoding circuit 101 c asserts data valid line 540c to indicate when data payload lines 530 c and control line 528 c areready to be accessed.

Communication port 505 receives the compressed data payload fromgraphics processor 515 using decoding circuit 203 b. In response to datavalid line 540 b indicating that communication bus 110 is ready to beaccessed, decoding circuit 203 b receives the compressed data payloadfrom data payload lines 530 b and receives, in parallel, the controlsignal from control line 528 b. Decoding circuit 203 b, using atechniques disclosed above, uses the control signal to determine whethercompressed data payload includes shifted data. If the compressed datapayload includes shifted data, decoding circuit 203 b decodes thecompressed data payload using a mask value extracted from the compresseddata payload to identify shifted data words. Otherwise, if the controlsignal indicates that no data words are shifted, decoding circuit 203 bdecodes the compressed data payload using a default mask value. Decodingcircuit 203 b generates an uncompressed data payload from the compresseddata payload and makes the uncompressed data payload available toappropriate circuits in communication port 505 to send to a storagedevice via USB or to a display screen using Ethernet.

Use of the disclosed techniques in the example of FIG. 5 allows areduction in a number of conductive traces included in communication bus110. Rather than supporting an uncompressed data payload in addition toa number of traces for the mask value, the multiple bits of the maskvalue may be reduced to a single control signal. The additional tracesfor data valid and ready signals may be needed regardless of a number oftraces used for the data payload and control signal.

It is noted that the computing device depicted in FIG. 5 is an example.The block diagram of computing device 500 has been simplified forclarity. In other embodiments, additional circuit blocks may beincluded, such as memory blocks, power management circuits, clockgeneration circuits, and the like. Although each of the functionalcircuits are shown as having a single implementation of an encodingcircuit and a decoding circuit, in other embodiments, each functionalcircuit may include multiple implementations of both encoding anddecoding circuits to increase a number of data payloads that sent andreceived in parallel.

The circuits described above in FIGS. 1 and 3 may perform encodingoperations using a variety of methods. Two methods for compressing adata payload by an encoding circuit are described in FIGS. 6 and 7.

Turning now to FIG. 6, a flow diagram for an embodiment of a method forcompressing, by an encoding circuit, a data payload with a non-enableddata word is shown. Method 600 may be performed by an encoding circuit,for example, encoding circuit 101 in FIGS. 1 and 3. In some embodiments,method 600 may be performed by a computer system (e.g., computing device100) that has access to a non-transitory, computer-readable mediumhaving program instructions stored thereon that are executable by thecomputer system to cause the operations described in regards to FIG. 6.Referring collectively to FIGS. 3 and 6, method 600 begins in block 601.

At block 610, method 600 includes receiving, by encoding circuit 101,uncompressed data payload 120 that includes a maximum number of datawords. Uncompressed data payload 120 is received from a functionalcircuit, for example, any of processing circuit 501, communications port505, graphics processor 515 and processing circuit 520 as shown in FIG.5. Data included in uncompressed data payload 120 may include anysuitable information, such as a portion of a file being transferred,commands being sent to a different function circuit, and the like. Themaximum number of data words is determined by a maximum number of datawords that can be transferred in parallel via communication bus 110.Accordingly, the maximum number of data words is dependent on a numberof conductive trances coupled between encoding circuit 101 andcommunication bus 110.

Method 600 further includes, at block 620, receiving, by encodingcircuit 101, mask value 125 that indicates enabled and non-enabled datawords in uncompressed data payload 120. Various payloads beingtransferred via encoding circuit 101 may have any number of enabled datawords, from a single data word to the maximum number. As shown,uncompressed data payload 120 includes enabled data words 122 a-122 c,122 e, 122 f, and 122 h, as well as non-enabled data words 124 d and 124g. Non-enabled data words 124 d and 124 g may be used to maintain aparticular arrangement of the enabled data words within uncompresseddata payload 120. Since each the data words within uncompressed datapayload 120 do not include an indication if they are enabled or not,mask value 125 is received in parallel with uncompressed data payload120 to identify which positions in uncompressed data payload 120 areenabled. In FIG. 3, mask value 125 is shown with a value of “10110111.”In the illustrated embodiment, a bit value of “1” indicates that acorresponding position in uncompressed data payload 120 holds an enableddata word, while a bit value of “0” indicates the data word in thecorresponding position is not enabled. The six “1” values in “10110111”correspond to enabled data words 122 a-122 c, 122 e, 122 f, and 122 h,while the two “0” values correspond to non-enabled data words 124 d and124 g.

At block 630, method 600 further includes creating, using mask value 125and uncompressed data payload 120, compressed data payload 130, whereincompressed data payload 130 includes mask value 125. To make room incompressed data payload 130 for mask value 125, one of non-enabled datawords 124 d and 124 g are removed. As shown, control circuit 105 usesmask value 125 to determine that the three least significant positions(371-373) of uncompressed data payload 120 hold enabled data words 122a-122 c. These three data words are left shifted into positions 372-374of compressed data payload 130, e.g., into positions that are of onehigher significance than their positions in uncompressed data payload120. Using mask value 125, control circuit 105 determines that the nexthigher position (374) in uncompressed data payload 120 (non-enabled dataword 124 d) is not enabled. In response, the data in this data word isnot transferred into compressed data payload 130. The remaining fourdata words (enabled data words 122 e, 122 f, 122 h and non-enabled dataword 124 g) are transferred into compressed data payload withoutshifting. Control circuit 105 transfers mask value 125 into leastsignificant position 371 of compressed data payload 130 that is madeavailable by the shifting.

Method 600 also includes, at block 640, sending, to a decoding circuitvia communication bus 110, compressed data payload 130 and controlsignal 128 that indicates that compressed data payload 130 includes maskvalue 125, wherein communication bus 110 has a number of conductivetraces 112, the number corresponding to the maximum number of datawords. Encoding circuit 101 transfers compressed data payload 130 to adifferent functional circuit using communication bus 110. In someembodiments, encoding circuit 101 may transfer compressed data payload130 in response to a signal, such as a ready signal, indicating thatcommunication bus 110 is available. Compressed data payload 130 andcontrol signal 128 are transferred to communication bus 110 viaconductive traces 112. The method ends in block 690.

Proceeding now to FIG. 7, a flow diagram of a method for an embodimentof a method for compressing, by an encoding circuit, a data payload withall data words enabled is shown. In a similar manner as method 600,method 700 may be performed by an encoding circuit such as encodingcircuit 101 in FIGS. 1 and 3. Method 700, in some embodiments, may beperformed by a computer system (e.g., computing device 100) that hasaccess to a non-transitory, computer-readable medium having programinstructions stored thereon that are executable by the computer systemto cause the operations described in regards to FIG. 7. Referringcollectively to FIGS. 3 and 7, the method begins in block 701.

At block 710, method 700 includes receiving, by encoding circuit 101, adifferent uncompressed data payload that includes the maximum number ofdata words and a different mask value that indicates all data words ofthe different uncompressed data payload are enabled. Encoding circuit101 receives an uncompressed data payload in which all positions holdenabled data words. The different mask value for such a data payload is“11111111.”

Method 700 further includes, at block 720, generating, by encodingcircuit 101, control signal 128 by de-asserting control signal 128 inresponse to the different mask value indicating that all data words ofthe different uncompressed data payload are enabled. The individual bitsof the different mask value are used as inputs to NAND gate 307. Thevalue of “11111111” results in NAND gate 307 generating a value of “0”for control signal 128. As described herein, a “de-asserted” signalrefers to a signal with a logic value of “0” and an “asserted” signalrefers to a signal with a logic value of “1.” It is noted, however, thatin other embodiments, a signal may have an “active low” logic such thata logic value of “0” corresponds to an asserted signal and a logic valueof “1” corresponds to a de-asserted signal.

At block 730, method 700 further includes creating, using the differentuncompressed data payload, a different compressed data payload, whereinthe different compressed data payload does not include the differentmask value. Since all data words of the different uncompressed datapayload are enabled, control circuit 105 transfers all data words of thedifferent uncompressed data payload to the different compressed datapayload without shifting any data words. Since all data words areenabled, the different mask value is excluded from the differentcompressed data payload.

Method 700 also includes, at block 740, sending, to the decodingcircuit, the different compressed data payload and control signal 128via the plurality of conductive traces 112 of communication bus 110without sending the different mask value. Encoding circuit 101 maytransfer the different compressed data payload in response to a readysignal that indicates that communication bus 110 is available. Since thedifferent compressed data payload excludes the different mask value, thedifferent mask value is not sent to the decoding circuit. A mask valuemay be omitted from a compressed data payload when all data words areenabled since, in the described embodiments, a single mask value (e.g.,“11111111”) corresponds to the all data words enabled case. The decodingcircuit, therefore, can use the single value as a default mask valuewhen control signal 128 indicates the all-enabled case. The method endsin block 790

It is noted that methods 600 and 700 of FIGS. 6 and 7 are merelyexamples. Variations of the disclosed methods are contemplated. Forexample, blocks 610 and 620 of method 600 are shown as being performedserially. In various embodiments, the uncompressed data payload and themask value are received in parallel.

The decoding circuits described above in FIGS. 2 and 4 may performdecoding operations using a variety of methods. Two methods fordecompressing a data payload by a decoding circuit are described inFIGS. 8 and 9.

Moving to FIG. 8, a flow diagram for an embodiment of a method fordecompressing, by a decoding circuit, a received data payload thatincludes a mask value is shown. Method 800 may be performed by adecoding circuit, for example, decoding circuit 203 in FIGS. 2 and 4. Insome embodiments, method 800 may be performed by a computer system(e.g., computing device 200) that has access to a non-transitory,computer-readable medium having program instructions stored thereon thatare executable by the computer system to cause the operations describedin regards to FIG. 8. Referring collectively to FIGS. 4 and 8, method800 begins in block 801.

Method 800 includes, at block 810, receiving, by decoding circuit 203,compressed data payload 130 that includes a maximum number of datawords. Compressed data payload 130 is received by decoding circuit 203from communication bus 110 via conductive traces 112. Compressed datapayload 130 may be sent by any suitable functional circuit, for example,any of processing circuit 501, communications port 505, graphicsprocessor 515 and processing circuit 520 as shown in FIG. 5. Compresseddata payload 130 includes information such as a portion of a file beingtransferred, commands for a function circuit associated with decodingcircuit 203, or any other suitable data. As previously disclosed, themaximum number of data words is determined by a maximum number of datawords that can be transferred in parallel via communication bus 110.

At block 820, the method includes receiving, by decoding circuit 203,control signal 128 that indicates whether compressed data payload 130includes a mask value. The received control signal 128 has a value theindicates whether compressed data payload 130 includes a mask value toidentify if particular data words included in compressed data payload130 are enabled or disabled. As illustrated, control signal 128 isreceived via a single one of conductive traces 112 and includes a singlebit value. In various embodiments, a logic “0” or logic “1” may indicatepresence of a mask value while the opposite logic value indicates nomask value is included. In some embodiments, control signal may includeadditional bits to provide additional information about data included incompressed data payload 130, such as a type data, a number of enableddata words, a size of data words, and the like.

In addition, at block 830, method 800 includes determining that controlsignal 128 indicates that compressed data payload 130 includes maskvalue 125. Decoding circuit 203 determines that the received value ofcontrol signal 128 indicates that compressed data payload 130 includesmask value 125. Accordingly, decoding circuit 203 further determinesthat compressed data payload 130 includes at least one data word that isnot enabled.

The method further includes, at block 840, extracting mask value 125from compressed data payload 130. To determine which data words incompressed data payload 130 are enabled and which are not, controlcircuit 205 in decoding circuit 203 extracts mask value 125 fromcompressed data payload 130. As described above in regards to FIG. 4,mask value 125, when included in a compressed data payload, is locatedin the least significant position (e.g., 471) in the payload. Anasserted value of control signal 128 causes control circuit 205 to usethe data word in least significant position 471 as mask value 125. Inthe illustrated example, mask value 125 is “10110111.”

At block 850, method 800 also includes creating uncompressed datapayload 120 from compressed data payload 130 using mask value 125. Togenerate uncompressed data payload 120, control circuit 205 uses maskvalue 125 to control selection inputs on MUXs 406 b-406 h. Based on maskvalue 125, enabled data words 122 a-122 c are shifted from theirpositions 472-474 in compressed data payload 130 to less significantpositions 471-473 in uncompressed data payload 120. This shifting opensposition 474 for non-enabled data word 124 d that was not included incompressed data payload 130. The value used for non-enabled data word124 d is, as shown in FIG. 4, the same as the value for enabled dataword 122 c. The data words in positions 475-478 in compressed datapayload 130 hold enabled data words 122 e, 122 f, 122 h, and non-enableddata word 124 g. These data words in positions 475-478 are transferredto the same positions 475-478 of uncompressed data payload 120 withoutshifting. It is noted that the data value for non-enabled data word 124g is preserved from compressed data payload 130. In some embodiments, adefault value may be used in uncompressed data payload 120 for thenon-enabled data words in place of data values transferred fromcompressed data payload 130. For example, rather than copying datavalues from compressed data payload 130, control circuit 205 may retaina data value for non-enable data words 124 d and 124 g from a prioruncompressed data payload, thereby reducing an amount of circuitswitching in the storage elements that hold uncompressed data payload120 in decoding circuit 203. The method ends in block 890.

Turning to FIG. 9, a flow diagram of a method for an embodiment of amethod for decompressing, by a decoding circuit, a compressed datapayload with all data words enabled is shown. In a similar manner asmethod 800, method 900 may be performed by an decoding circuit such asdecoding circuit 203 in FIGS. 2 and 4. Method 900, in some embodiments,may be performed by a computer system (e.g., computing device 200) thathas access to a non-transitory, computer-readable medium having programinstructions stored thereon that are executable by the computer systemto cause the operations described in regards to FIG. 9. Referringcollectively to FIGS. 4 and 9, the method begins in block 901.

At block 910, the method includes receiving, by decoding circuit 203, adifferent compressed data payload 130 that includes the maximum numberof data words and a different control signal 128 that indicates thatcompressed data payload 130 does not include a mask value. In thedisclosed embodiments, control signal 128 is de-asserted when compresseddata payload 130 does not include a mask value. As described above,however, control signal may utilize other values to indicate thatcompressed data payload 130 does not include a mask value.

Method 900 further includes, at block 920, using default value 440 formask value 125. As shown in FIG. 4, control circuit 205 uses controlsignal 128 to select between a data word in least significant position471 in compressed data payload 130 and default value 440 for use as maskvalue 125. In response to the de-asserted value of control signal 128,default value 440 is selected as mask value 125. In the currentembodiment, default value 440 is “11111111.”

At block 930, method 900 also includes creating uncompressed datapayload 120 from compressed data payload 130 using default value 440,wherein default value 440 causes decoding circuit 203 to not shift anydata words between compressed data payload 130 and uncompressed datapayload 120. As described above for method 800, control circuit 205 usesmask value 125 to control selection inputs to MUXs 406 b-406 h. Defaultvalue 440 (“11111111”) in combination with control signal 128 causes allof MUXs 406 b-406 h to select the non-shifted inputs, resulting in thedata words in compressed data payload 130 to be placed into the samepositions 471-478 in uncompressed data payload 120. After uncompresseddata payload 120 has been updated with the data words from compresseddata payload 130, decoding circuit 203 may indicate to an associatedfunctional circuit, e.g., one of the functional circuits disclosed inFIG. 5, that uncompressed data payload 120 is ready to be retrieved. Inother embodiments, decoding circuit 203 may store uncompressed datapayload 120 in storage circuits for later access by the functionalcircuit. The method ends in block 990.

It is noted that methods 800 and 900 of FIGS. 8 and 9 are examples fordemonstrating disclosed concepts. In other embodiments, operations maybe performed in a different order, and some operations may be performedin parallel. Although, blocks 810 and 820 of method 800 are shown asbeing performed serially, in some embodiments, the compressed datapayload and the control signal are received in parallel.

FIGS. 1-9 illustrate apparatus and methods for encoding and decodingcircuits in a computing device. Encoding and decoding circuits, such asthose described above, may be used in a variety of computer systems,such as a desktop computer, laptop computer, smartphone, tablet,wearable device, and the like. In some embodiments, the circuitsdescribed above may be implemented on a system-on-chip (SoC) or othertype of integrated circuit. A block diagram illustrating an embodimentof computer system 1000 that includes the disclosed circuits isillustrated in FIG. 10. Computer system 1000 may, in some embodiments,correspond to computing device 100, 200, and/or 500 in FIGS. 1-5. Asshown, computer system 1000 includes processor complex 1001, memorycircuit 1002, input/output circuits 1003, clock generation circuit 1004,analog/mixed-signal circuits 1005, and power management unit 1006. Thesefunctional circuits are coupled to each other by communication bus 1011.In some embodiments, communication bus 1011 corresponds to communicationbus 110 in FIGS. 1-5. As shown, both processor complex 1001 andinput/output circuits 1003 include respective embodiments of encodingcircuit 101 and decoding circuit 203.

Processor complex 1001, in various embodiments, may be representative ofa general-purpose processor that performs computational operations. Forexample, processor complex 1001 may be a central processing unit (CPU)such as a microprocessor, a microcontroller, an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), or a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). Insome embodiments, processor complex 1001 may correspond to a specialpurpose processing core, such as a graphics processor, audio processor,or neural processor, while in other embodiments, processor complex 1001may correspond to a general-purpose processor configured and/orprogrammed to perform one such function. Processor complex 1001, in someembodiments, may include a plurality of general and/or special purposeprocessor cores as well as supporting circuits for managing, e.g., powersignals, clock signals, and memory requests. In addition, processorcomplex 1001 may include one or more levels of cache memory to fulfillmemory requests issued by included processor cores. As shown, processorcomplex 1001 includes implementations of encoding circuit 101 anddecoding circuit 203. In various embodiments, processor complex 1001 mayinclude a single embodiment of each circuit or may include multipleembodiments for use by multiple cores. Processor complex 1001 mayutilize encoding circuit 101 and decoding circuit 203 to send andreceive, respectively, data payloads across communication bus 1011, orother bus structures that are not illustrated.

Memory circuit 1002, in the illustrated embodiment, includes one or morememory circuits for storing instructions and data to be utilized withincomputer system 1000 by processor complex 1001. In various embodiments,memory circuit 1002 may include any suitable type of memory such as adynamic random-access memory (DRAM), a static random access memory(SRAM), a read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmableread-only memory (EEPROM), or a non-volatile memory, for example. It isnoted that in the embodiment of computer system 1000, a single memorycircuit is depicted. In other embodiments, any suitable number of memorycircuits may be employed. In some embodiments, memory circuit 1002 mayinclude a memory controller circuit as well as communication circuitsfor accessing memory circuits external to computer system 1000.

Input/output circuits 1003 may be configured to coordinate data transferbetween computer system 1000 and one or more peripheral devices. Suchperipheral devices may include, without limitation, storage devices(e.g., magnetic or optical media-based storage devices including harddrives, tape drives, CD drives, DVD drives, etc.), audio processingsubsystems, or any other suitable type of peripheral devices. In someembodiments, input/output circuits 1003 may be configured to implement aversion of Universal Serial Bus (USB) protocol or IEEE 1394 (Firewire®)protocol.

Input/output circuits 1003 may also be configured to coordinate datatransfer between computer system 1000 and one or more devices (e.g.,other computing systems or integrated circuits) coupled to computersystem 1000 via a network. In one embodiment, input/output circuits 1003may be configured to perform the data processing necessary to implementan Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) networking standard such as Gigabit Ethernet or10-Gigabit Ethernet, for example, although it is contemplated that anysuitable networking standard may be implemented. As illustrated,input/output circuits 1003 include one or more instances of encodingcircuit 101 and decoding circuit 203 to support transfer of datapayloads to and from various communication interfaces.

Clock generation circuit 1004 may be configured to enable, configure andmanage outputs of one or more clock sources. In various embodiments, theclock sources may be located in analog/mixed-signal circuits 1005,within clock generation circuit 1004, in other blocks with computersystem 1000, or come from a source external to computer system 1000,coupled through one or more I/O pins. In some embodiments, clockgeneration circuit 1004 may be capable of enabling and disabling (e.g.,gating) a selected clock source before it is distributed throughoutcomputer system 1000. Clock generation circuit 1004 may includeregisters for selecting an output frequency of a phase-locked loop(PLL), delay-locked loop (DLL), frequency-locked loop (FLL), or othertype of circuits capable of adjusting a frequency, duty cycle, or otherproperties of a clock or timing signal.

Analog/mixed-signal circuits 1005 may include a variety of circuitsincluding, for example, a crystal oscillator, PLL or FLL, and adigital-to-analog converter (DAC) (all not shown) configured togenerated signals used by computer system 1000. In some embodiments,analog/mixed-signal circuits 1005 may also include radio frequency (RF)circuits that may be configured for operation with cellular telephonenetworks. Analog/mixed-signal circuits 1005 may include one or morecircuits capable of generating a reference voltage at a particularvoltage level, such as a voltage regulator or band-gap voltagereference.

Power management unit 1006 may be configured to generate a regulatedvoltage level on a power supply signal for processor complex 1001,input/output circuits 1003, memory circuit 1002, and other circuits incomputer system 1000. In various embodiments, power management unit 1006may include one or more voltage regulator circuits, such as, e.g., abuck regulator circuit, configured to generate the regulated voltagelevel based on an external power supply (not shown). In some embodimentsany suitable number of regulated voltage levels may be generated.Additionally, power management unit 1006 may include various circuitsfor managing distribution of one or more power signals to the variouscircuits in computer system 1000, including maintaining and adjustingvoltage levels of these power signals. Power management unit 1006 mayinclude circuits for monitoring power usage by computer system 1000,including determining or estimating power usage by particular circuits.

It is noted that the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 10 includes oneexample of a computer system. A limited number of circuit blocks areillustrated for simplicity. In other embodiments, any suitable numberand combination of circuit blocks may be included. For example, in otherembodiments, security and/or cryptographic circuit blocks may beincluded.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium that stores circuit design information,according to some embodiments. The embodiment of FIG. 11 may be utilizedin a process to design and manufacture integrated circuits, such as, forexample, an IC that includes computer system 1000 of FIG. 10. In theillustrated embodiment, semiconductor fabrication system 1120 isconfigured to process the design information 1115 stored onnon-transitory computer-readable storage medium 1110 and fabricateintegrated circuit 1130 based on the design information 1115.

Non-transitory computer-readable storage medium 1110, may comprise anyof various appropriate types of memory devices or storage devices.Non-transitory computer-readable storage medium 1110 may be aninstallation medium, e.g., a CD-ROM, floppy disks, or tape device; acomputer system memory or random-access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM,SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; a non-volatile memory such as a Flash,magnetic media, e.g., a hard drive, or optical storage; registers, orother similar types of memory elements, etc. Non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium 1110 may include other types ofnon-transitory memory as well or combinations thereof. Non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium 1110 may include two or more memorymediums which may reside in different locations, e.g., in differentcomputer systems that are connected over a network.

Design information 1115 may be specified using any of variousappropriate computer languages, including hardware description languagessuch as, without limitation: VHDL, Verilog, SystemC, SystemVerilog,RHDL, M, MyHDL, etc. Design information 1115 may be usable bysemiconductor fabrication system 1120 to fabricate at least a portion ofintegrated circuit 1130. The format of design information 1115 may berecognized by at least one semiconductor fabrication system, such assemiconductor fabrication system 1120, for example. In some embodiments,design information 1115 may include a netlist that specifies elements ofa cell library, as well as their connectivity. One or more celllibraries used during logic synthesis of circuits included in integratedcircuit 1130 may also be included in design information 1115. Such celllibraries may include information indicative of device or transistorlevel netlists, mask design data, characterization data, and the like,of cells included in the cell library.

Integrated circuit 1130 may, in various embodiments, include one or morecustom macrocells, such as memories, analog or mixed-signal circuits,and the like. In such cases, design information 1115 may includeinformation related to included macrocells. Such information mayinclude, without limitation, schematics capture database, mask designdata, behavioral models, and device or transistor level netlists. Asused herein, mask design data may be formatted according to graphic datasystem (gdsii), or any other suitable format.

Semiconductor fabrication system 1120 may include any of variousappropriate elements configured to fabricate integrated circuits. Thismay include, for example, elements for depositing semiconductormaterials (e.g., on a wafer, which may include masking), removingmaterials, altering the shape of deposited materials, modifyingmaterials (e.g., by doping materials or modifying dielectric constantsusing ultraviolet processing), etc. Semiconductor fabrication system1120 may also be configured to perform various testing of fabricatedcircuits for correct operation.

In various embodiments, integrated circuit 1130 is configured to operateaccording to a circuit design specified by design information 1115,which may include performing any of the functionality described herein.For example, integrated circuit 1130 may include any of various elementsshown or described herein. Further, integrated circuit 1130 may beconfigured to perform various functions described herein in conjunctionwith other components. Further, the functionality described herein maybe performed by multiple connected integrated circuits.

As used herein, a phrase of the form “design information that specifiesa design of a circuit configured to . . . ” does not imply that thecircuit in question must be fabricated in order for the element to bemet. Rather, this phrase indicates that the design information describesa circuit that, upon being fabricated, will be configured to perform theindicated actions or will include the specified components.

Although specific embodiments have been described above, theseembodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the presentdisclosure, even where only a single embodiment is described withrespect to a particular feature. Examples of features provided in thedisclosure are intended to be illustrative rather than restrictiveunless stated otherwise. The above description is intended to cover suchalternatives, modifications, and equivalents as would be apparent to aperson skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.

The scope of the present disclosure includes any feature or combinationof features disclosed herein (either explicitly or implicitly), or anygeneralization thereof, whether or not it mitigates any or all of theproblems addressed herein. Accordingly, new claims may be formulatedduring prosecution of this application (or an application claimingpriority thereto) to any such combination of features. In particular,with reference to the appended claims, features from dependent claimsmay be combined with those of the independent claims and features fromrespective independent claims may be combined in any appropriate mannerand not merely in the specific combinations enumerated in the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus, comprising: a communication busconfigured to transfer a particular data payload that includes up to amaximum number of data words, and a control signal that indicateswhether the particular data payload includes a mask value, the maskvalue indicative of enabled and non-enabled data words in the particulardata payload; and a decoding circuit configured to: receive, from anencoding circuit via the communication bus, the particular data payloadand the control signal; in response to a determination that the controlsignal indicates that the particular data payload does not include themask value, use a default value for the mask value; and create anuncompressed data payload from the particular data payload using thedefault value, wherein the default value causes the decoding circuit tomaintain positions of data words between the particular data payload andthe uncompressed data payload.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thedecoding circuit includes a multiplexing circuit configured to: select,using the control signal, either a particular data word of theparticular data payload or the default value; and generate the maskvalue based on the selection.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein thedecoding circuit includes a plurality of additional multiplexingcircuits, individual ones of the plurality configured to: select fromthe particular data payload, based on the control signal and the maskvalue, either a respective shifted data word or a respective unshifteddata word; and generate a respective data word of the uncompressed datapayload based on the selection.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thedefault value of the mask value includes a plurality of bits, wherein agiven bit corresponds to a respective data word in the particular datapayload, and wherein a value of the given bit indicates the respectivedata word is enabled.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the decodingcircuit is further configured to send an indication to an associatedfunctional circuit that the uncompressed data payload is ready to beretrieved.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the communication buscomprises a number of conductive traces corresponding to a number ofbits included in the maximum number of data words plus the controlsignal, and wherein to receive the particular data payload via thecommunication bus, the decoding circuit is configured to receive theparticular data payload and the control signal in parallel.
 7. A methodcomprising: receiving, by a decoding circuit from an encoding circuit, aparticular data payload that includes a maximum number of data words;receiving, by the decoding circuit from the encoding circuit, a controlsignal indicating whether the particular data payload includes a maskvalue, the mask value indicating ones of the data words in theparticular data payload that are enabled and ones of the data words thatare non-enabled; in response to determining that the control signalindicates that the particular data payload does not include the maskvalue, using a default value for the mask value; and creating, using thedefault value and the particular data payload, an uncompressed datapayload, wherein the default value indicates that positions of datawords between the particular data payload and the uncompressed datapayload remain the same.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein using thedefault value for the mask value includes selecting, via a multiplexingcircuit using the control signal, the default value as the mask value.9. The method of claim 8, wherein creating a particular data word of theuncompressed data payload includes selecting from the particular datapayload, based on the control signal and the mask value, either arespective shifted data word or a respective unshifted data word as theparticular data word.
 10. The method of claim 7, further comprising:receiving, by the decoding circuit, a different data payload and adifferent control signal; and in response to determining that thecontrol signal indicates that the particular data payload includes themask value, extracting the mask value from the different data payload.11. The method of claim 10, wherein extracting the mask value from thedifferent data payload includes selecting, via a multiplexing circuitusing the control signal, a particular data word of the different datapayload as the mask value.
 12. The method of claim 7, further comprisingsending, by the decoding circuit, an indication to an associatedfunctional circuit that the uncompressed data payload is ready to beretrieved.
 13. The method of claim 7, further comprising receiving, bythe decoding circuit, the particular data payload and the control signalin parallel.
 14. An integrated circuit, comprising: a communication busconfigured to transfer a data payload that includes a control signal andup to a maximum number of data words; a decoding circuit coupled to thecommunication bus; and an encoding circuit configured to: receive anuncompressed data payload and a mask value, wherein the mask valueindicates enabled and non-enabled data words in the uncompressed datapayload; and create, using the mask value, the control signal thatindicates whether the uncompressed data payload includes one or morenon-enabled data words; create, using the mask value, a particular datapayload from the uncompressed data payload; determine, based on thecontrol signal, whether to include the mask value in the particular datapayload; and send, via the communication bus, the particular datapayload to the decoding circuit.
 15. The integrated circuit of claim 14,wherein the encoding circuit is further configured to in response to adetermination that the control signal indicates that the uncompresseddata payload includes one or more non-enabled data words, to include themask value in the particular data payload; and otherwise to exclude themask value from the particular data payload.
 16. The integrated circuitof claim 14, wherein the encoding circuit includes a multiplexingcircuit configured to: select, using the control signal, either aparticular data word of the particular data payload or the mask value;and store the selection in the particular data payload.
 17. Theintegrated circuit of claim 16, wherein the encoding circuit includes aplurality of additional multiplexing circuits, individual ones of theplurality configured to: select from the uncompressed data payload,based on the control signal and the mask value, either a respectiveshifted data word or a respective unshifted data word; and store therespective selection in the particular data payload.
 18. The integratedcircuit of claim 14, wherein the mask value includes a plurality ofbits, wherein a given bit corresponds to a respective data word in theuncompressed data payload, and wherein a value of the given bitindicates whether the respective data word is enabled or non-enabled.19. The integrated circuit of claim 14, wherein decoding circuit isconfigured to: receive the particular data payload and the controlsignal; and in response to a determination that the control signalindicates that the particular data payload does not include the maskvalue, use a default value for the mask value.
 20. The integratedcircuit of claim 14, wherein the communication bus comprises a number ofconductive traces corresponding to a number of bits included in themaximum number of data words plus the control signal, and wherein tosend the particular data payload via the communication bus, the encodingcircuit is configured to send the particular data payload and thecontrol signal in parallel.